New Year greeting from Bertie Boo's family. He is from Smudge and Henry's Brittany/Cavalier litter born Spring 2015 Smudge has nine little Hudges He is Bumble and Blottie's (the two girls we kept from the litter) brother. Seems I've not been the only one who's been feeling as rough as a badger's bottom over Christmas.

Bertie Boo in August when he came to stay with us whilst his family were on holiday abroad.

​"Hi Jane & all the family

Hope you had a lovely Christmas and wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

We all had various days with the lurghi over Christmas (tho fortunately Xmas Day and Boxing Day were clear!) so Xmas cards have yet to be posted and emails late!

Bertie Boo is doing great, we all love him to bits and joins us everywhere! Our Golden Oldie has marked his 13th bday and is still trucking! They are great friends.

Love reading your blog, new pups are gorgeous!

Emma xx :)"

Hello Emma,

know how you feel. I've had a cold which left me with a racking cough all through Christmas. Still coughing, but it is getting less each day.

A lovely update arrived today for one of our old girls Lucy. Three years ago we rehomed Lucy. She came to us as an adult dog and she had, had two beautiful litters of Cavapoo pups. It was felt with Lucy that she might be happier in a home with less dogs as she grew old. You can read part of her story on The Girls​ page.

Lucy

"Hi everybody,Here I am once again another year gone, almost. I do hope you all had an amazing fun time at Christmas. I did, with lots of prezzies and some extra food! The trouble is I think my walks have got a bit longer during the day and there is this awful hill ..................... say no more. I know from last year I heard the words "weight, diet" but I have gone completely deaf so I suppose the extra lengthy walk has to do with these words. I do however have a warm coat and TWO new cosy lambswool blankets to sleep in.I had lots of toys and most mornings I meet two very young sisters when they are going to school - Chloe and Imogen. They adore me and I had a present from them this year. A squeaky red bone (photo attached) and some goodboy chocs. I did attempt to break open the parcel which was under the tree but was caught redhanded and I did not see it again until Christmas Day!I am sending you a couple of photos just for you to see I am still enjoying my life here after leaving you all some 3 years ago. I will be 10 years old in June. I am deaf but it is an advantage at times, I do not hear Judith moaning about the piles of toys and not being put back! Disadvantage - I can't hear the cake and biscuit tins being opened. My sense of smell is brilliantWell, that's all from me until the next time but Judith, Tony and myself wish you all a Happy, Peaceful and Healthy New Year.Love you allLucyxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Hello Judith and Tony,

lovely to hear from Lucy and that apart from her hearing she is pretty well for nearly 10 years old.

Supper tonight. The left over Turkey and ham stew from last night, bulked out with some new potatoes and instead of dumplings, some fresh crusty baguette.

Our daughter Florrie asked me for a mixer for Christmas, which we got her, and she whisked up some meringues for dessert.

Funnily she did not know that when I popped to the grocery store today I picked up some strawberries and raspberries. So I whisked up some double cream with a bit of vanilla and icing sugar, and popped it all together with a pinch of demerara sugar on top. Delicious!

in soup

in stew

with a few bits of crispy roast potato

and an apple cake with ice cream.

Festive greetings from Millie and Maddie's family. Alison had Millie from us in 2012 and then Lynda came and had Maddie from us a couple years later in 2014.Millie is from Smudge and Reggie's Cavapoo litter Nine and Maddie is from Smudge's half-sister Primrose's Cavapoo litter with Reggie It's six ​

"Hello Jane,

Wishing you and your family well, lovely to see Christmas photos from all the other families, especially Archie he looks so like Millie !. As you can see Millie and Maddie enjoyed their Christmas, struggled to get a photo of them both together. Wishing you all a happy New Year.

Alison and Millie,Lynda and Maddie xx"

Hello Alison,

thanks for the lovely photos of Millie and Maddie enjoying the festivities.

on boxing Day

It has been mild weather here over Christmas and with us all home and the weather good on Boxing Day morning, husband David thought a chance not to be missed to finish off a piece of hedge that needed laying on our property. Which lead to a good appetite for a cold meat spread for Boxing day lunch.

The dogs had, had several hours out running this morning, and as I prepared lunch I thought all of them were asleep in the utility, but on closer inspection of the photos there was one missing. Can you figure out which one from the photos?

We are not that big a eaters in our house. With two stilll under ten, we don't bother with a starter and we then eat dessert for supper. This year every one opted for trifle for dessert. We have two homemade puddings to eat up and watching television, I might crumble a bit of them, fry and sprinkle over ice cream. Sounds yummy!

Christmas lunch minus the swede which I remembered as I just sat down to eat mine.

Nothing better to see than a man in harmony with his vegetables on Christmas morning.

The magic has been spun

I had a pillow case as a child, so our children have a pillow case allocated to them on their first Christmas and all going well that pillow case will see them through until they fly the nest. They decorate them as they see fit and they become a memory catcher.

One more Christmas greeting found in the email inbox and this one is from Alfie's family. Alfie is from Dolly and Reggie's cavapoo litter born the end of October 2011 Dolly amazes us again​

Alfie

"Hello Jane Wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Can't believe we've had Alfie 5 years time is certainly flying. Here's a picture of our lovely little boy taken after our walk this morning. He's a great companion everyone loves him and he loves all the attention he gets. The older he gets the cleverer he gets. Fit and strong little boy, testament to your care and attention as a breeder Once again thank you and merry ChristmasTony and Gina and of course Alfie"

​Hello Tony and Gina,

good to hear from you and that all is well with Alfie. Thanks for keeping in touch for the last 5 years, it certainly has flown by.

Milked this morning and I'm now officially on lock down for Christmas. and could not resist a couple little blogs on the eve of Christmas, even though I said yesterday I was clocking off for Christmas. Amazing how better you can feel when you finally get a good nights sleep. The photos are the welcoming home party this morning on my return from milking.

“The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you,but he will make a fool of himself, too.” ― Samuel Butler

Me with Bumble and Blottie, waiting patiently to be unleashed, November 2018

Author

Hello, I am Jane, you might of guessed, I love dogs. We are situated in the North Devon countryside, England, United Kingdom. Our home is occupied by my husband, David, our children, pack of dogs and me.On this page you can find out what we are getting up to and the day to day issues our dogs encounter. I also post stories about my work as a relief milker of cows and life in general.You can also find regular updates here on how our pups are getting on in their new homes.To contact me my number is 01769 560969 and email is howarthmurch@btinternet.com